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Mode of delivery and birth outcomes in relation to the duration of the passive second stage of labour : A retrospective cohort study of nulliparous women

Bjelke, Maria ; Thurn, Lars LU orcid and Oscarsson, Marie (2023) In PLoS ONE 18(1).
Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the mode of delivery and birth outcomes in relation to the duration of the passive second stage of labour in nulliparous women. METHODS AND FINDINGS: A retrospective cohort study of all nulliparous women (n = 1131) at two delivery units in Sweden. Maternal and obstetric data were obtained from electronic medical records during 2019. The passive second stage was defined as the complete dilation of the cervix until the start of the active second stage. The duration of the passive second stage was categorized into three groups: 0 to 119 min (0 to <2 h), 120-239 min (2- <4h) and ≥240 min (≥4h). Differences between the groups were examined using t-test and Chi2-tests and regression analyses were used to... (More)

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the mode of delivery and birth outcomes in relation to the duration of the passive second stage of labour in nulliparous women. METHODS AND FINDINGS: A retrospective cohort study of all nulliparous women (n = 1131) at two delivery units in Sweden. Maternal and obstetric data were obtained from electronic medical records during 2019. The passive second stage was defined as the complete dilation of the cervix until the start of the active second stage. The duration of the passive second stage was categorized into three groups: 0 to 119 min (0 to <2 h), 120-239 min (2- <4h) and ≥240 min (≥4h). Differences between the groups were examined using t-test and Chi2-tests and regression analyses were used to analyse adjusted odds ratio with 95% confidence intervals. The primary outcome was mode of delivery in relation to the duration of the passive second stage and the secondary outcomes covered a series of adverse maternal and neonatal birth outcomes. The rates of instrumental and caesarean deliveries increased as the duration of the passive second stage increased. A ≥4-hour duration of the passive second stage was associated with a nine-times increased risk of caesarean section, and a four-times risk of instrumental delivery compared to a duration of <2 hours in the adjusted analyses. No differences were found in the maternal birth outcomes. The risk of a 5-minute Apgar score <7 was increased in the 2-<4h group. A longer passive second stage was not associated with an increased risk of negative birth experience. CONCLUSIONS: Our study demonstrates an increased risk of operative delivery for a longer duration (>2h) of the passive second stage in nulliparous women, although most of the women gave birth by spontaneous vaginal delivery even after ≥4 hours. There was no evidence of an increased risk of adverse maternal outcomes in a longer duration of the passive second stage but there were indications of increased adverse neonatal outcomes. Assessment of fetal well-being is important when the duration of the passive phase is prolonged.

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author
; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
PLoS ONE
volume
18
issue
1
article number
e0281183
publisher
Public Library of Science (PLoS)
external identifiers
  • scopus:85147175511
  • pmid:36716315
ISSN
1932-6203
DOI
10.1371/journal.pone.0281183
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
1cf9ac2e-7d86-416a-ad59-984a98b6f564
date added to LUP
2023-02-13 09:32:55
date last changed
2024-06-15 02:11:21
@article{1cf9ac2e-7d86-416a-ad59-984a98b6f564,
  abstract     = {{<p>OBJECTIVE: To investigate the mode of delivery and birth outcomes in relation to the duration of the passive second stage of labour in nulliparous women. METHODS AND FINDINGS: A retrospective cohort study of all nulliparous women (n = 1131) at two delivery units in Sweden. Maternal and obstetric data were obtained from electronic medical records during 2019. The passive second stage was defined as the complete dilation of the cervix until the start of the active second stage. The duration of the passive second stage was categorized into three groups: 0 to 119 min (0 to &lt;2 h), 120-239 min (2- &lt;4h) and ≥240 min (≥4h). Differences between the groups were examined using t-test and Chi2-tests and regression analyses were used to analyse adjusted odds ratio with 95% confidence intervals. The primary outcome was mode of delivery in relation to the duration of the passive second stage and the secondary outcomes covered a series of adverse maternal and neonatal birth outcomes. The rates of instrumental and caesarean deliveries increased as the duration of the passive second stage increased. A ≥4-hour duration of the passive second stage was associated with a nine-times increased risk of caesarean section, and a four-times risk of instrumental delivery compared to a duration of &lt;2 hours in the adjusted analyses. No differences were found in the maternal birth outcomes. The risk of a 5-minute Apgar score &lt;7 was increased in the 2-&lt;4h group. A longer passive second stage was not associated with an increased risk of negative birth experience. CONCLUSIONS: Our study demonstrates an increased risk of operative delivery for a longer duration (&gt;2h) of the passive second stage in nulliparous women, although most of the women gave birth by spontaneous vaginal delivery even after ≥4 hours. There was no evidence of an increased risk of adverse maternal outcomes in a longer duration of the passive second stage but there were indications of increased adverse neonatal outcomes. Assessment of fetal well-being is important when the duration of the passive phase is prolonged.</p>}},
  author       = {{Bjelke, Maria and Thurn, Lars and Oscarsson, Marie}},
  issn         = {{1932-6203}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{1}},
  publisher    = {{Public Library of Science (PLoS)}},
  series       = {{PLoS ONE}},
  title        = {{Mode of delivery and birth outcomes in relation to the duration of the passive second stage of labour : A retrospective cohort study of nulliparous women}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0281183}},
  doi          = {{10.1371/journal.pone.0281183}},
  volume       = {{18}},
  year         = {{2023}},
}